What Makes It A Love Song
by driver picks the music
Summary: -Red Camaro Part 12- Jobs to do, a Child to raise and an Uncle/Best friend who just might be ready to start dating again...welcome to the further adventures of the Monroe Family
1. Chapter 1

**So it's been a long wait since the last story...so sorry about that but I hurt my shoulder after writing that one and was having a hard time with typing for a while, and then I was packing and getting ready to move.**

**Now though my shoulder is mostly better and I'm all packed up so I was finally able to get a little writing done :)**

**Not sure when the next chapter will be up, hopefully I'll be movie in a couple of days if all goes as planned...but since that rarely happens there's a good chance it will be a little longer until I actually move lol...but it's going to be a little busy when the time actually comes, so if it takes a little while for the next chapter, don't worry, I won't forget about you all :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything, and none of it includes Revolution...**

**Title and inspiration for this first chapter come from the Miranda Lambert song "Love Song"**

**I hope you like this first chapter.**

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Bass let out a grunt as he opened his eyes when he felt the wait of his one year old daughter on his stomach. Instinct had him reaching out to grab hold of her before he had even registered that he was awake.

Rae smiled a drooly lopsided grin at him as he squinted his eyes trying to adjust to the light. Charlie popped her head up from beside the bed where she was kneeling after plopping their child down on top of him, and she frowned at the little girl.

"Come on Rae, where did you put mommy's phone?" she asked as she once again leaned down to look under the bed.

Bass lifted Rae off his stomach and sat her back down on his lap as he sat up and rubbed one hand over her face. "What's going on? What are you doing on the floor?" he asked as she tossed a shoe out of her way.

Charlie looked up at him and brushed some hair out of her face. "We need a bigger house." she said instead of answering his question.

Bass raised his brows and Charlie sighed as she sat back on her heels. "I love our daughter, more than anything, but I do not love sharing a room with her." she said. "She got out of her bed last night and found my phone, that I had on the dresser, and she hid it...again."

Bass nodded in understanding. This was the third time this had happened, and they weren't even sure how Rae was able to get the phone, but she seemed to find a new hiding spot for it every time.

He reached for his phone that Rae never seemed to notice, where it lay on the bedside table. "Did you try calling it yet?" he asked as Rae scooted off his lap to crawl under the covers next to him.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, it must be dead or turned off or something because it went straight to voice mail." she said, her frustration clear.

Bass held his phone out to her. "Here, take mine for now and I'll look for yours and if I find it we'll swing by and drop it off, but you're gonna be late if you don't get going soon." he said.

Charlie had started going back into the bookstore part time a few mornings a week. Two of those days Bass stayed home in the morning with Rae until Charlie came home. But every Thursday Rae went to the garage with him, where he spent his afternoon in his office doing the paperwork he had put off the rest of the week, while she played with the assortment of toys that he kept there for her along with a pac-n-play.

Today was Thursday. Which meant after Charlie left, Bass would get Rae her breakfast and then he would get them both ready and head into the garage for the day. But first he would find that phone.

Charlie took his phone and smiled at him. "Thank you, sorry about the grouchy wake up." she said as she sat down to slipped her shoes on.

Bass smiled softly at her and reached out and trailed his fingertips down the back of her arm as she sat on the bed beside him. "Don't worry about it babe, it's not the first time and I doubt it'll be the last." he said and Charlie smirked and rolled her eyes as she playfully swatted at him.

"Shut-up." she said as she stood up.

Bass chuckled but didn't respond before Charlie leaned down to give him a kiss. She started to pull back but he reached up and put a hand on the back on her neck and held her to him for a moment longer before letting her pull away.

Charlie smiled at him and bit her bottom lip, her frustration from before already slipping away. She suddenly didn't want to leave, but knew she was going to be late. "I'll see you later." she said as she reached for Rae, pulling the covers back and smile when the little girl started to giggle.

"Come say bye to Mommy." she said. Rae climbed onto unsteady feet and reached her arms out. "Bye." she said with a grin on her face.

Charlie smiled at her mostly toothless grin and gave her a squishy kiss on the cheek. "I love you both." she said after setting Rae back on the bed.

Bass smiled. "We love you too Mommy." he said as Rae bounce on her bottom, still smiling. "Bye!" she squealed again.

…

Bass found the phone. Somehow Rae had managed to tuck it behind the head of the bed, wedging it against the wall. He had pulled the room apart before finally finding it, while Rae was in her highchair eating the cheerios he had given her for breakfast.

After swinging by the bookstore and giving the dead phone and the charger to Charlie and getting his phone back, he and Rae spent the afternoon in his office until Miles came by and picked her up for some Uncle/Niece time.

After that was when the rest of his day went down hill and he was in a foul mood when he got home later that evening.

Walking in he slammed the door harder than he needed to and stalked to the kitchen where he threw his keys onto the counter before grabbing a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.

Charlie stood in the doorway and watched, her brows raised as he drank half the bottle down before taking a breath. She knew something was wrong, but she also knew he needed a few minutes of quiet before she asked him about it.

"Where's Rae?" he asked.

Charlie cocked her head slightly. "She's in the playpin, I was getting ready to give her a bath when I heard the door." she said.

Bass nodded. "Did she have fun with Miles today?"

Charlie nodded and smiled slightly. "Yeah, Miles said she was all smiles, she got a little sad when he left, but she had a good time."

Bass nodded again, but sighed. Charlie walked over and without a word she wrapped her arms around him, and when she felt his arms go around her, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Bass leaned back against the counter, pulling her a little closer against him. "I'm sorry." he said. "I just had a long crappy afternoon. Two different part shipments got messed up and it's going to end up costing us about twice as much as we had thought it would." he said. "And after being on the phone and having such a pleasant conversation with about twelve different people trying to get that cleared up, Chuck had to leave early because his mom called and needed his help with something, so I was stuck by myself when three different people showed up at once and then I got a call from Johnny over at Sauls Tow Service, saying he had a couple of trucks he was gonna bring in." Bass sighed again and shrugged. "It was just a long day."

Charlie leaned back and looked up at him. "So it's your turn to be grouchy now, that's ok." she said. "Go sit down and relax. I'll get Rae bathed and then we can order in something for dinner after I get her to bed."

Bass leaned down and kissed her, running a hand through her hair as she curled her fingers into his shirt. When he pulled back, she smiled and raised a brow.

Bass smiled. "How about you do the bath and then I'll put her to bed?" he asked, wanting to spend that little bit of time with his little girl. Charlie nodded, knowing Rae would go down easier for him anyway. "Alright." she said.

Charlie pulled away from him and started to leave the room, but Bass' hand on her arm stopped her. Turning back and she raised her brows as she looked at him.

Bass gave her a lopsided smile. "I am so in love with you." he said and she smiled.

"Good," she said, "because I'm in love with you too."

It was a completely ordinary day. They had both had things go wrong, but nothing too major had happened, and as they sat together on the couch in their living room eating Chinese food straight from the box while their daughter slept soundly in the next room, neither one could wait to start the next completely ordinary day. Because they would be together, and as long as they were together, the most ordinary day couldn't be anything but perfect.

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**And remember...**

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	2. Chapter 2

**so I'm a horrible person...I know its been like 8 years so nice I updated. I suck, I know.**

**If Anyone is still interested, I have a new chapter for you...yay! Lol and chapter three will be up soon as well, I'm almost finished with it.**

**Did everyone hear the news about the digital comics? I know its not the same and won't be as good as if they had found a way to bring the show back somehow, but at least this way we'll get a little more story. So I'm counting it as a win :)**

**OK on with the story, I hope you enjoy it.**

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Charlie sat back against the armrest of the couch with her kindle in her hands, her legs stretched out in front of her with her feet resting against Bass' thigh where he sat at the other end of the couch. He had one arm resting along the back of the couch while his other arm was busy holding a book.

Rae was gone for the night, spending some time with Danny and Anna, so Bass and Charlie had the house to themselves.

It was Friday evening and they had no plans for the weekend.

Neither one of them had spoken in more than twenty minutes. This, right now, was something that Charlie loved about their relationship. She loved that they could just sit quietly together, without the need to be talking or making idyl chit chat.

To be able to just sit with someone was rare and the fact that they could find that kind of relaxation and comfort with each other was something that Charlie had always believed was a sign that they were meant to be.

"You know," Bass said, breaking the silence. "it's really hard to read when someone is staring at you." he said as he lowered his book and turned to look at her.

Charlie had lowered her kindle and was watching him over the top, but now she lowered it farther and smiled at him.

"I'm sorry." she said. "But you're just so pretty."

Bass nodded. "I know." he said with a straight face. "It's distracting sometimes."

Charlie laughed before sliding her feet from his lap and scooting closer to him. "You know, we have the whole house to ourselves until tomorrow afternoon." she said.

Bass nodded again and smiled. "I know." he said and smiled a little wider as she leaned up on her knees and swung a leg over his, sitting in his lap.

"Did you have something in mind that you would like to do with this childless house?" he asked as he placed his hands on either of her thighs while she ran hers up his arms and over his shoulders before stopping at the nape of his neck, letting her fingers interlock.

Charlie shrugged and raised a brow. "Oh, I don't know, I'm sure we can think of something to do."

Bass let his hands slid up her legs until he reached her hips while Charlie leaned closer and let her lips brush over his.

Just as she was leaning in to deepen the kiss, Bass' phone started to ring from the table that sat beside the couch.

Charlie sighed and leaned back when she recognized the ringtone. Bass groaned and closed his eyes. "He has the worst timing." he muttered as reached for his phone.

Charlie smirked and scooted off his lap as Bass answered the phone. "Miles, hey what's up?"

…...

It was more than an hour later when Bass finally hung up the phone and went in search of Charlie.

He found her in the bedroom, her computer open in front of her and her glasses perched on her nose. She hated them and only used them when she was on the computer, but he thought they looked adorable on her.

She was doing research for her next book; she had decided after talking it all over with him, to go the self publishing route; and she was currently in the middle of outlining her second story.

"Miles OK?" she asked without looking up at him.

Bass sighed as he walked over and fell onto the bed beside her. "He's so needy sometimes, I swear it's like I have another child."

Charlie closed the computer and moved it to the bedside table where she also placed her glasses and she laid down beside him. "I think he's lonely." she said as she reached over and placed her hand on his scruffy cheek.

"I would be if I were him." she said softly.

Bass reached up and grabbed her hand and kissed it before resting bother their hands on the bed between them. "I know," he said. "I can't even imagine how hard it is for him." he shook his head. "If I lost you..." he trailed off, not knowing how to finish the thought.

Charlie smiled and scooted closer, letting her feet slip between his. "You know what we should do?" she asked. "We should set him up." she said, not giving him a chance to answer.

Bass raised his brows. "On a date?" he asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, get him back out there." she said.

Bass thought it over for a moment. "I don't know, I wouldn't want to push him, what if he's not ready?" he asked.

Charlie shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to ask him what he thinks of the idea." she said. "I can't tell him it's been long enough, only he can decide when that is, but maybe if he knows that I'll be OK with it, it'll help him."

Bass nodded, knowing that might be a big part of what was holding his friend back. Miles seemed like he was in a really good place now, maybe he just needed a little nudge to get back out there and figure out how to have a life without Rachel.

"Well," Bass said. "do you have someone in mind or are you just planning on finding a random girl off the street?" he asked.

Charlie rolled her eyes but smiled. "I was thinking that he might like Maggie." she said.

Bass leaned up on his elbow and frowned. "Maggie who?" he asked.

Charlie sat up and chuckled. "Maggie Foster."

Bass looked surprised. "Rae's doctor?" he asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, she's pretty, she's nice but not so nice that Miles would hate her, and she's single."

Bass sat up and chuckled at the rattled off list. "So you've put a little bit of thought into this huh?" he asked.

Charlie rolled her eyes again. "Maybe." she said. "I just want him to be happy."

He nodded. "Yeah, and give us a break?" he asked and Charlie laughed.

Bass shrugged "I guess I can ask him what he would think about it when I see him tomorrow night." he said as he fell back against the bed again.

Charlie smiled and nodded before stopping with a frown. "Wait, what's tomorrow night?" she asked.

Bass sighed. "The poker game he set up with some of the guys from the precinct." he said, keeping his eyes closed so he didn't see the frown he knew she wore.

Charlie sighed as she laid down on top of him, causing him to open his eyes. "Well if you have plans for tomorrow night, I guess we're just going to have to make the most out of tonight then."

Bass smirked and brushed her hair back from her face. "Best wife ever." he said as she leaned closer for that kiss that was interrupted before

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	3. Chapter 3

"So how did it go?" Monica asked when she walked into Charlie's house a couple of weeks later.

Charlie had just walked out of the kitchen when she heard her friend, and she smirked at the other woman. "Well hello to you too." she said.

Monica rolled her eyes as she dropped her bag and keys onto the table by the door. "Hello, now tell me about his date, was it great or horrible or something in-between?"

Charlie shook her head and chuckled. "Well Maggie said she had a nice time, but according to Miles I'm horrible at matchmaking." she said and shrugged. "So I guess a little of all three?"

The two women walked into the living room and sat down on the couch where Monica sat sideways with her feet tucked under her. "Did he say why it was so bad, or was it just bad because it was his first date in like twelve years?" she asked.

Charlie shrugged. "He didn't really say too much, just that she was too nice and didn't understand his humor."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Oh please, he's not nearly as funny as he thinks he is." she said. "She probably got it just fine and just didn't find it humorous."

Charlie chuckled at that, knowing that Monica could very well be right. "Well, at least he has that first date under his belt now, and some of the pressure is off." she said. "He never said it to me, but I think he was nervous."

Monica nodded. "Yeah and that's completely understandable, which is what I was telling him the other day when he wasn't sure if he should go or not."

Charlie frowned. "When did you talk to him?"

Monica shrugged. "A few days ago, like Wednesday I think." she said. "I ran into him when we were both getting lunch and we ate together. He asked if you told me you were making him go out with your baby doctor and then was telling me he wasn't sure if he should or not."

"Oh." Charlie said. "I didn't know that." she frowned again. "And I didn't make him do anything, I asked is he wanted to is all, he could have said no."

Monica nodded. "Right." she said, obviously not believing her.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she said. "why wasn't he sure if he should go or not?"

Monica shrugged. "He said he wasn't sure if he was ready or not, and I told him that was fine if he wasn't, but I also told him that if it was because he was feeling guilty for feeling like he was ready to move on, that the only way to move past that was to just move past it." she shrugged again. "I told him there was no right or wrong time for any of this and to do what he felt was the right thing for him."

Charlie smiled at her friend, glad she had been there for Miles when he felt the need to open up to someone. "So I guess it's a good sign that he went for it then?" she said.

Monica nodded. "I think so, yeah." she said and shrugged once more. "I guess only time will tell."

…...

"Did you know that Monica and Miles had lunch together the other day?" Charlie asked Bass later that night as he wiped macaroni and cheese from Rae's face after dinner.

"Yeah, he said he ran into her at the deli the other day and they ate together." he picked Rae up from her high chair and turned to Charlie. "Why?" he asked.

Charlie shook her head. "No reason," she said. "She was just telling me today that they talked and he had said something about being unsure about going out with Maggie."

Bass nodded and walked over and placed Rae on the floor by her toys in the living room. "I thought he might be, but he never said anything to me about it." he told her. "I'm glad he felt comfortable enough to talk to somebody about it." he said as he pulled her down to sit on the couch beside him.

Charlie leaned into him. "Me too." she said.

Bass looked at her and raised a brow. "What is it?" he asked, knowing there was something else on her mind.

Charlie shook her head. "Nothing really, I just thought it was odd he talked to her about it instead of you." she said honestly.

Bass shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes it's easier to talk to somebody you haven't known forever, and Monica wasn't very close with Rachel so that might make it easier too, get an outside point of view on it."

Charlie nodded and smiled at Rae as she tried to climb into her lap. "You know, I was thinking." Charlie said as she lifted Rae up to her.

Bass groaned. "Oh lord, what now." he said and grunted when she elbowed him, making Rae laugh.

"I was thinking," she said again, narrowing her eyes at him. "That first step is the hardest right? But now that he knows he can do it, maybe you were right and we shouldn't push it." she said. "Let him figure it out on his own now if he wants to."

Bass waited as Rae climbed him and sat on his shoulders. Once she was situated he looked at Charlie again. "So what, like teaching a kid to swim? Throw them in the deep end and let them either sink or start swimming?" he asked and Charlie shrugged.

"Yeah kind of. I mean, maybe he needed that first push, but now that he knows it's not going to kill him, maybe he'll stop just treading water and actually start living life again."

Bass nodded. "Alright," he said. "but it's your job to talk to Maggie because I don't want to have to find Rae a new doctor."

Charlie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yes dear." she said and Bass laughed. Until Rae pulled a handful of curls, then it was Charlie's turn to laugh.

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**And remember...**

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	4. Chapter 4

**I know it's been forever since I last updated and I want you all to know I feel really bad about that and I haven't forgotten about you. I just have a lot going on at home right now and have been super busy. I wrote a very short one shot for another fandom (Community) but I felt so bad about not updating this first.**

**I really liked how this chapter turned out and I hope you all do too...not a whole lot about Charlie and Bass together, but it's important to the overall story...and I think it'll make at least a few of you happy ;)**

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Bass opened his eyes when he heard what sounded like the clicking of bottles coming from the kitchen. He looked over and saw the Charlies side of the bed was empty, and after a quick glance he saw that Rae was still sleeping soundly.

Tossing the covers back, he swung his feet to the floor and made his way into the other room. The sliding glass door that lead out to the patio was open slightly and Bass heard Miles voice.

With a frown Bass glanced at the clock on the stove and saw that it was after 1am, and he wondered what Miles was doing here in the middle of the night.

Stopping at the open door, Bass noticed Charlie sitting in the patio swing next to Miles, a beer bottle in his hand as he looked out over their back yard that was littered with toys that their one year old liked to play with on sunny days.

Charlie glanced up and saw him and smiled softly. Bass nodded his head towards Miles and furrowed his brows in question, but charlie shook her head, letting him know that he shouldn't come out, she had it covered.

Obviously Miles had come to her to talk about something, so Bass nodded and quietly backed away, leaving them alone, knowing that if it was anything serious, anything to be worried about, Charlie would tell him later.

…...

Some time later Bass felt the bed dip and Charlie slipped under the covers before snuggling up next to him.

His eyes still closed he lifted his arm to pull her closer and nuzzled his face into her neck. "Everything alright?" he asked, half asleep.

He felt Charlie nodded. "Yeah." she said quietly. "Well, kind of." she said.

Bass pulled his face away from her and opened his eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Charlie furrowed her brow. "Well he started out talking about mom, and how he had started going through some of her stuff from her office there at the house." she said. "But by the end of the conversation, he almost seemed like he was trying to work up to asking me something, I'm just not sure what it would be."

Bass Hmm'ed. "Maybe it had something to do with your moms stuff?" he said. "Maybe he was worried it might be a sensitive subject and wanted to kind of feel you out about it first?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense." she said and laid her head on his chest. "Well whatever it was, I'm not gonna worry about it tonight."

Bass chuckled. "That sounds good, because we have a small person that's going to be waking us up early in the morning." he said. "Probably after hiding your phone again."

Charlie smiled into his chest and closed her eyes. "We really need to talk about getting a bigger house."

Bass nodded and closed his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah, maybe tomorrow."

…...

Charlie opened the front door and smiled when she found Monica standing on the other side. "Hey." she said. "You knocked?" she asked.

Monica smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, I'm trying something new." she said as she headed inside and dropped her purse on the table by the door before heading for the living room.

Charlie chuckled and followed behind. "What's up? I thought you were busy today?"

Monica nodded. "Yeah I was supposed to be, had a lunch thing but it was canceled this morning." she said, sitting on the couch beside Charlie. "I actually need to talk to you about that." she said.

Charlie raised her brows. "Why, what's going on?" she asked.

Monica chuckled nervously. "This is more awkward than I thought it would be." she muttered before clearing her throat. "Ok, so the lunch thing today? It was supposed to be with Miles."

Charlie frowned slightly. "OK, you guys have had lunch together before, what's the big deal?"

Monica sighed. "Well, the thing is, the couple of times that we've hung out it was a coincidence, just ran into each other, kind of thing." she shrugged a little. "This time it was planned."

Charlie nodded, still a little confused. "OK, so you don't like making plans?" she said with a chuckle.

Monica rolled her eyes. "Alright, how about this." she said. "Remember how you used to warn me about flirting with him, and I always said that it was nothing, just us having fun and being silly?"

Charlie nodded, suddenly getting where this conversation was going. "Yeah." she said, not sure how she should be responding yet.

Monica scrunched her nose up. "What if I said that maybe it wasn't nothing anymore?"

Charlie's eyes widened slightly and Monica hurried to reassure her. "It wasn't anything before, it was just like I said. I mean you know him, he would have never done anything like that to your mom, and neither would I." she said. "And I don't even know if it's anything for him now either, I mean it was him that canceled this afternoon, no warning, out of the blue.

"It's just, we've been hanging out more and I started to realize that maybe there could be something more there, but I don't want to do anything that you're not OK with because I know how close you are to him and I don't want to mess that up."

Charlie let out a breath in a whoosh and shook her head slightly. "Wow, that's a lot." she said. "But I guess I can't say that I'm really all that surprised." she said with a shrug. "I mean, there's always been this easy back and forth between you guys."

Monica smiled slightly. "So what do you think?" she asked, knowing that if Charlie wasn't on board she wouldn't pursue the idea any farther.

Charlie smiled and shrugged a shoulder. "I don't think that I'm really able to say much about it, I can't really say for Miles not to go for it if he wants to just because you're my best friend, I think I lost that right when I got together with Bass." she said. "But even if that weren't the case, I would still tell you to do what makes you happy. If you and Miles want to give it a shot, go for it." she said with a nod. "I just want you both to be happy, you both mean the world to me. And you know exactly what he's been through so I don't have to warn you to be good to him." she said with a smirk.

Monica smiled widely. "Are you sure? Because the Bass of it all aside, if you have any reservations about this, tell me and that will be the end of it."

Charlie shook her head. "No, I'm good, really." she said, laying a hand on Monica's arm.

Monica nodded, smile still stretched across her face. "Thank you Charlie." she said.

"Of course, don't mention it." Charlie said.

Monica's eyes widened. "Don't say anything to him about it alright? Like I said, I'm not even sure if it's anything more than friendship for him and I don't want him to be stupid and freak out on me because he thinks I'm in love with him or something. OK?"

Charlie laughed and nodded. "That's fine, I won't say anything to Miles about it, I promise."

…...

Monica stayed and hung out for a while longer before saying she had to go. After she walked out the door, Charlie reached for her phone.

"Hey, what's going on?" Bass asked when he answered on the third ring.

Charlie smiled into her phone as she propped her feet up on the table in front of her. "So I think I know what Miles was wanting to talk about last night." she said.

"Really?" He asked. Charlie nodded, even though he couldn't see her, and she smiled a little wider when she heard the interest in his voice.

"Oh yeah." she said. "I just had a very interesting conversation with Monica and I think it might have something to do with it." she said, not feeling guilty for spilling the beans. She had promised to not say anything about it to Miles. She made no such promise about telling Bass.

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**And remember...**

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	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, what's this? An actual update? Why yes, yes it is.**

**I would like to apologize for the long wait and the randomness in posting for this particular story. As some of you already know, a few months ago I moved from the small town in central Indiana that I have lived for most of my life (never living more than an hour away from said small town) to an even smaller town in southern Georgia, about 800 miles away, to live with my sister and her husband and their five, soon to be six (she was pregnant at the time of my move) children.  
Well since then (this was in Feb.) I have had spotty internet service on top of taking on most of the day to day childcare duties while my sister was pregnant and her husband worked.**

**Now, I have a beautiful little almost 3 month old niece named Ellie.**

**After she was born, we were dealing with end of school for the older kids as well as getting ready to move. We all (9 of us now) packed up and moved to a nicer place a couple of towns over. Which is when I broke my computer...not one of the bajillion kids that mess with it on a regular basis...but me. Luckily it was just the screen that broke and the actual computer still works fine, but until I can get the screen fixed I can only use it hooked to the tv, and until yesterday I didn't have a cord that was long enough to hook it up and still be able to type easily...I have a wireless mouse, which was super convenient, but my wireless keyboard didn't work anymore, which was super not...**

**So I leave you this lengthy and ramble-y A/N to say that I have not fallen off the face of the earth, or out of the fandom (that idea makes me smile, it just seems so ridiculous to me), and I most certainly have not forgotten this story. I have thought about it often and have been itching to get back at it for a while now, and I'm beyond happy that I finally have the chance.**

**I also have other story ideas brewing that I hope to get fleshed out and written up for you all as well, to hopefully make up for the horrendous lack of updates.**

**Again, I am so sorry for that, and I thank all of you that have read and commented and favorited and left kudos or put this story on alert or subscribed to it...you are all amazing and I am truly thankful for you all.**

**So now, without further ramblings...Chapter 5**

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Later that night, Bass got home after hanging out with Miles at their favorite dive bar. He knew Rae would already be in bed, but Charlie was sitting on the couch when he walked in, reading a book, and she smiled when she saw him. Her smile quickly faded when she saw the look on his face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked as she closed her book and sat it on the table.

Bass sighed as he sat down beside her and let his head drop back onto the couch. "I think I kind of messed up tonight." he said, turning his head to look at her.

Charlie frowned. "What did you do?" she asked, suspicion heavy in her voice.

Bass sat up and bent one knee, pulling his leg up onto the couch as he turned towards her. "Ok, so Miles gets there and he's acting weird, and I think it's because of the Monica thing right?" he said and Charlie nodded understandingly. "Wrong, but I'll get to that in a minute.

"So we get a couple beers and were just hanging out talking crap you know, same as usual, when Miles tells me there's something he's been wanting to talk to us about." Bass said "And I told him that you thought there might be after he came over the other night."

Charlie nodded again. "Ok, so how did you mess up?"

Bass grimaced. "I'm getting to that part. So anyway, he says he's been thinking a lot about this lately and wanted to know what we would think but he wasn't sure how you would feel about it.

"So I, being the amazing friend and brother that I am to this man," Bass said pointing to himself. "want to put him at ease, so I told him that it was ok, you had already talked to Monica and we thought it was great."

Charlie frowned again. "But you said it wasn't about her?" she asked, fearing the next part of his tale.

Bass nodded. "Yeah." he sighed. "He was confused when he told me that he hadn't told her about his idea to trade houses with us so what the hell was I talking about, so I told him..." he said, trailing off.

Charlie's mouth had dropped open, not knowing what to try to process first. "He wants to trade house with us?" she settled on for the moment.

Bass nodded again. "Yeah, he wants to come over and talk it all over with us, he has this whole idea worked out, but he wasn't sure how you would feel about living in your moms house now that she's gone."

Charlie nodded, still thinking over all this information. "So he didn't know anything about Monica's feelings for him?" Bass shook his head. "But he does now because you went ahead and told him?"

Again, Bass nodded. "I panicked and didn't know how to get myself out of that situation so I just went with it. From now on," he said. "don't tell me things that I don't need to know, because I'm not equipped to deal with stuff like this."

Charlie closed her eyes and shook her head. "Monica is going to kill me. He's going to act weird around her now and she's going to think I told him. Which I might as well have since I told me stupid husband." She said the last part quietly to herself but Bass still heard.

"Hey now, no need for name calling." he said. "Besides, I didn't say he didn't like the idea, it was just a surprise to him."

Charlie opened her eyes and raised her brows. "Really?" she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Bass nodded. "Yeah, he said he hadn't realized she was interested, but he never said he wasn't."

Charlie frowned. "So he didn't outright reject the idea, that's your happy spin on this?" she asked and Bass shrugged. "Hey you know Miles, that's a promising start."

Charlie nodded, knowing that Bass was right. If he wasn't going to at least think it over he would have let Bass know right then that it was a no on his part. "I just can't believe you told him."

Bass chuckled softly as he dropped both feet back to the floor and scooted closer to her, raising an arm to wrap around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. "I think you already established that I'm stupid." he said.

Charlie rolled her eyes as she settled against him. "No, I'm the stupid one, I should have known better. You and Miles gossip like little old ladies at a church picnic, it was only a matter of time before you spilled the beans. I just didn't know it would be this fast." she said with a chuckle of her own.

Charlie sighed. "Monica really is going to kill me." she said and Bass pulled her a little closer. "No she won't, it'll be fine. He won't act weird, and she'll not even know anyone told anybody about it."

Charlie raised a brow and looked up at him and Bass grinned. "Alright, so he will act weird and she'll end up mad, but I have a really good feeling it will all work out."

Charlie pursed her lips and nodded before rolling her eyes with a shake of her head.

They lapsed into silence, sitting comfortably together in the quiet before Charlie pulled away from him slightly. "Trade houses?" she said, finally remembering the other topic from his talk with Miles.

Bass nodded. "Yeah, he said that he really was cleaning out Rachel's office the other night and was thinking about how big and empty the house felt now and that got him to thinking about how maybe he should sell it." he said. "But then he said he thought about us over here in this little place, and he knew we had been tossing around the idea of getting a bigger place, so he thought that maybe it would work out for all of us if we just traded places.

"We would sign our place over to him and he would sign his place over to us and we could all pay the minimum we needed to to get all that worked out and call it even."

Charlie frowned. "But we can't do that, their place is worth a lot more than this place." she said. "That just doesn't seem fair to him."

Bass nodded. "That's what I told him, but he said that he would rather see us raising Rae there, than have a little extra money in the bank."

Charlie leaned her head back against his shoulder. "Wow." she sighed. "That's..." she trailed off, not really finding the words to say exactly how it made her feel. How much the gesture touched her.

"I know." Bass said. "But we don't have to decide anything right now, he wanted to give us a couple of days to think about it and then come over and talk about it with both of us."

Charlie nodded, but before she could say anything more, she heard Rae cry out from the bedroom. Bass patted her arm before moving his. "I'll get her." he said, kissing the side of her head before getting up.

A few minutes later, Charlie followed him into the bedroom and saw him standing beside Rae's bed as he tucked the blanket back around her. Charlie saw her blond haired munchkin grin up at her daddy and Charlie smiled when Bass gently brushed Rae's hair from her face before leaning down to kiss the end up her nose, causing the little girl to giggle before closing her eyes.

Bass turned and saw Charlie watching them and he smiled softly at her before following her out of the room and pulling the door part way closed.

Charlie smiled. "We should do it." she said. "We should trade places."

Bass raised his brows and leaned against the door frame. "Are you sure?" he asked, knowing that he didn't care where they lived as long as Charlie and Rae were happy.

"Yeah," Charlie said. "I am." She furrowed her brows. "We just need to tell him before he finds out we might have inadvertently ruined his friendship with Monica."

Bass chuckled and stood from his leaning position and wrapped an around around her, steering her back to the living room and away from their sleeping child. "I think we'll be OK there, but I'll call him tomorrow just to be on the safe side."

Charlie smiled. She loved their little home, it was the place where she and Bass had become a family, but she knew that it didn't matter where they were because they would always be a family. "It'll be nice." she said as they sat back down beside each other. "Like having another little piece of mom to share with Rae as she grows up."

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	6. Chapter 6

**What? Two chapters in the same week? Crazy I know...**

**Big thanks for everyone still with me, you guys are awesome. :)**

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"Monica is coming over to help." Charlie informed Bass while they started loading packed boxes into the truck parked in their driveway.

They had gotten everything squared away and the paperwork transferred and Miles had packed up his things and put everything into storage for a few days while they moved Bass and Charlies things into the bigger place, then Miles would move his things into the smaller house. Once they decided they were going to do it, it didn't take long to make the move happen and Charlie was excited to get their things settled in.

Bass sat the Dolly he was wheeling out upright beside the truck and raised his brows. "Does she know Miles is coming over too?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, but I'm fairly certain that what she doesn't know is that _He _knows about the thing he's not supposed to know about."

Bass smirked and rolled his eyes. "Right, well my lips are sealed on the matter, I think I helped enough with that whole situation."

Charlie chuckled and nodded as she slid the door up on the back of the truck. "I think you're probably right about that."

…...

The four of them were sitting on the floor in the living room at Bass and Charlie's new place. Charlie was laying with her head on Bass' leg while Miles sat against the wall beside the doorway. Monica was sprawled out in the middle of the floor, her arm flung over her eyes as she complained about how tired she was.

"You're tired? I'm too old for this crap." Miles said as he leaned his head back.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Please, you're forty-seven, you're not old."

"I second that." Bass said, earning a snort from Miles. "You only second that because we're the same age." Bass shrugged and Charlie chuckled.

They all lapsed into silence for a moment until Charlie looked at at Bass and smiled. "Truth." she said and Bass smiled as Miles groaned.

"I'm tired." Bass said, his smile widening. "Truth."

Monica frowned. "What is this? What is happening?" she asked as she sat up and scooted over to lean back against the wall beside Miles.

Miles sighed and rolled his eyes. "This is a stupid game they've played since she was a kid; just to drive me crazy." he said, turning to look at her. "It's like truth or dare, without the dare."

Monica frowned at him before turning to the other two. "Lame." she said, getting a nod of agreement from Miles.

Charlie stuck her tongue out at them. "Actually, we were playing this game when we drove back from school that night." she said, turning back to Bass. "Remember?"

Bass nodded with a soft smile on his face. "Of course I do." he said as he ran a hand over her hair, brushing it back from her face.

Miles and Monica sat quietly for a moment; watching the other two; until Monica broke the silence. "You guys are disgusting." she deadpanned as Miles tipped his head back and laughed.

Charlie sat up and rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, we can all be as adorably snarky as the two of you."

Miles nodded. "That's true." he said. "Nobody can be as adorably snarky as we are." he nudged Monica's arm with his elbow as he said this.

She turned to him and nodded. "It's a God given ability, it's not something that can be taught." she said, hiding her surprise that he was playing along.

Charlie glanced at Bass to see if he noticed "the moment" the other two were having and he raised his brows at her and smiled slightly; letting her know he saw it too.

Monica smirked and looked away from Miles, missing the crooked smile he sent her way. "I uh, think you still owe us a truth Charlie."

Charlie sighed. "Truth...I'm going to go start getting Rae's room set up, because Danny is bringing her home later and I want her to be able to see her stuff and feel a little more at home." she stood up and brushed her pants off. "Monica, you wanna come help?"

Monica nodded and stood as well. "Lead the way mama." she said as she held her arm out, motioning for Charlie to walk through the doorway first.

…...

"So, you thought any more about Monica and that whole situation?" Bass asked Miles as they moved the furniture around in the living room, arranging the couch and the tables, making room to set up the TV and video games.

Miles grunted in reply as he sat his end of the couch down. "Yeah." he said.

Bass waited expectantly. "And?" he asked when he realized Miles wasn't going to offer any more than that.

Miles shrugged a shoulder. "And, I've thought about it that's all." he said as he slid the coffee table to it's position in front of the couch.

"Come on man, you can do better than that." Bass said, moving a couple of boxes out of his way.

Miles sighed and shrugged again. "I don't know, let's say, hypothetically," he said and Bass rolled his eyes but made a 'go ahead' motion with his hand. "that I did have similar feelings for her. What's if it's too soon still, what if we're not a good fit and it doesn't work out? What happens to not only our friendship but hers and Charlie's too?"

Bass sighed. "Listen, I can't tell you if it's too soon or not, only you can figure that out. But as for Charlie? Man she's rooting for you guys; but she also knows that it might not work out. If she's willing to take that chance, she would hate for you to use her as a reason to not go for it if it's something you want." Bass said and raised a brow. "You know that too."

Miles nodded and Bass went on. "Besides, so what if it doesn't work out? Isn't it better to take a risk on something that could be great, than to live with the fear of what might or might not happen?"

Bass sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the table, waiting for Miles to do the same before he continued to speak. "For what it's worth, if you really do care for her, I think you should go for it." Bass shrugged. "But it's your choice." Miles nodded once more but remained silent.

Bass smirked. "Just look at it this way, things worked out really great for me when I took a chance on something that could have completely blown up in my face and ruined countless relationships, including ours."

Miles furrowed his brows at him. "My God you're stupid." he said.

Bass shrugged with a smile stretching across his face. "Yeah well, I'd rather be stupid and happy than sad and a lone."

Miles tipped his head to the side slightly and nodded. "Point taken."

…...

"I don't know Charlie, I don't want to mess everything up if he's not into me like that." Monica said as she sat a stuffed bear out on Rae's bed that they had just finished making.

Charlie nodded. "I get that, believe me I totally understand where you're coming from." she said. "But you have to remember, that no matter how old they get, boys are dumb." she said with a smile.

Monica laughed. "I know." she said.

Charlie shrugged. "I mean, it took years after I finally grew up for Bass to realize it, partially because I was too afraid of making him see it, because I was worried about what would happen." she held her arms out. "But look what I've got now." Charlie shrugged again. "You just never know until you give it a shot. Change is scary and it could always go wrong, but that's a chance you have to take if you want something better than what you have right now."

Monica sighed as she sat down in the rocking chair that she had just moved over by the window. "You're right." she said. "And he is, better I mean. I just have to decide now if the chance to be with him is worth the risk of losing him all together."

Charlie crossed her arms and leaned a shoulder against the wall. "For what it's worth, I don't think, even if he doesn't have the same kind of feelings for you, that you'll lose him." she shrugged one shoulder. "Miles is a for life kind of guy, it might be a little awkward for a while, but you'll never lose him."

Monica nodded and Charlie stood up from her leaning position and clapped her hands together. "Alright, now let's go put my room together." she said with a smile, chuckling as Monica stood with a groan.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

**So this chapter is very different from all the rest of them...lol It really has nothing to do with Charloe at all, but I think you'll still be happy with it. :)**

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At 9:45pm on a Wednesday night, Monica sighed and tossed her keys onto the kitchen counter in her little apartment, and silently thanked the lord above that summer was over and school had started, causing the afternoon activities to slow down at the library where she worked. She loved kids (well she loved Rae) but having to deal all day every day with a bunch of kids she didn't even really know was starting to take a toll and the school year hadn't gotten here a moment too soon.

Now it was just the normal stress of switching gears from summer time to back to school fun.

Everyone always thinks that working in a library is all about shelving books and late fees, but it's a lot more than that and it's a lot of hard work.

She sighed again as she opened her refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of beer, twisting the top off before opening the cabinet door to pull out a box of instant macaroni and cheese.

She had just sat the box on the counter and took another pull from her bottle when she was interrupted by the buzzer from downstairs.

Frowning she walked to the door and pressed the intercom button. "Yeah?" she asked, having no clue who would be at her door.

"Hey, it's Miles."

Monica looked at the intercom in surprise. Miles had only been to her place once, and even then it wasn't a social visit on his part. He gave Charlie and ride over when she was pregnant.

Still frowning in confusion, Monica pressed the button again. "Hey, come on up." she said before buzzing him in.

As he walked up the three flights of stairs, she looked around the room and brushed her fingers through her hair before shaking her head and rolling her eyes at herself. "This is Miles, stop being stupid." she told herself.

She jumped at the knock on her door and rolled her eyes once again.

"Hey." she said with a smile after she opened the door and saw him standing there. "Come on in." she stepped back to let him enter.

Miles stood right inside the door, his hands in his pockets, and Monica couldn't help but smile at the awkward way he shifted from foot to foot.

"You want a drink?" she asked, holding up her beer bottle.

Miles shook his head and pulled his hands from his pockets. "No, thanks but I can't stay long actually, but I wanted to talk to you about something."

Monica nodded. "Alright, does it have anything to do with why you're acting like a total weirdo?" she asked before taking a drink.

Mile rolled his eyes. "Do you want to go to dinner with me this weekend?"

Monica's brows shot up in surprise. "Really?" she asked skeptically.

Miles nodded and smirked. "Yeah, just you and me."

Monica narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to him. "She told you." she leaned back and jabbed her finger at him. "Didn't she?"

Miles shook his head and shrugged slightly. "Charlie?" he asked. "She didn't tell me anything."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Fine, she told her husband then and he told you right?"

Miles sighed and Monica covered her face with her free hand; the other hand still holding the beer bottle. "Well that's not embarrassing or anything." she said.

Miles scoffed and she dropped her hand and glared at him. "What?"

"You're not embarrassed. You have to actually care what other people think of you to be embarrassed." he said. "And you don't care." he shrugged. "That's one of the things we have in common."

It was Monica's turn to shrug now. "Well yeah, usually. But there's a handful of people that I do care about what they think, and you're one of them."

Miles was quiet for a minute before clearing his throat. "Okay well, it's out there, it's embarrassing but there's nothing more to do about it except move on." he said. "You like me. I'm pretty great though, so points to you for picking up on that." he said and smiled when Monica rolled her eyes. "And now I'm asking you out on a date, making what I thought would be obvious, the fact that I like you too." Miles shrugged a shoulder. "So what's the problem? Are you going to go out with me or not?"

Monica chuckled and shook her head. "Well I mean, since you asked so nicely, I guess I will."

Miles smiled at her. A real smile, not a smirk. "Good, you made the right choice."

Monica smiled and reached around him to open the door before shoving his shoulder. "You got what you came for, now get out of my house."

Miles stepped out into the hall with a chuckle. "I'll call you tomorrow and we can figure out plans."

Monica nodded. "Sounds good." she said.

Miles smirked and opened his mouth, but was cut off by her closing the door in his face. He nodded to himself with a smile. He wouldn't expect anything less.

On the other side of the door, Monica headed for the kitchen and her box of mac and cheese, with what she knew had to be the biggest stupidest smile her face had ever seen.

She was unsurprised ten minutes later when her phone rang and she saw Charlie's name. She chuckled and answered it. "Well that took longer than I thought." she said by way of greeting.

Charlie laughed from the other end. "Yeah well, Bass thought it was going to be funny to not tell me what happened until I kicked him in the shin and he changed his mind."

"You guys are such great examples to your small impressionable child." Monica said fondly.

She could hear the smile in Charlie's voice as she said, "Yeah well, he was being a meanie and he smells funny."

Monica chuckled when she heard Bass protested "hey!" in the background and Charlie shush him. "Okay," Charlie said. "Tell me what happened?"

Monica leaned against the counter, her phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear and a bowl of macaroni in her hand. "Alright, well it all started when I told my big-mouthed best friend something in confidence."

Charlie cleared her throat. "In my defense, which is slight I know, I told you I wouldn't tell Miles, and I didn't, I told Bass."

Monica smiled softly. "It's okay, I forgive you. I just know now not to trust you with anything ever again."

"You really should have known that already." Charlie said with a playful scoff.

Monica chuckled again. "I know, silly me, what was I thinking?"

On the other end of the phone, Charlie sat in her living room on her couch. Her sock covered feet propped on Bass lap as he held their little girl against his shoulder after she fell asleep against him, and she knew exactly what her friend had been thinking. Monica had been thinking that Charlie would spill the beans and Miles would find out and she would get her chance at her own happily ever after.

Whatever version that may be.

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	8. Chapter 8

**First I would like to start off by saying Happy Birthday to my dear friend Ice. I hope you're birthday has been great and full of happy Charloe goodness :)**

**Second I would like to say a huge sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Life has happened, as it has a tendency to do, and writing got pushed back. I hate when that happens but it is what it is. I hope that this chapter is worth the wait (It's not, it's not a bad chapter, but so not a couple of months wait kind of chapter).**

**This chapter marks the end of this story, but not the series :) I have more to come. I am planning a one shot spin off that will cover the beginning of Miles and Monica's relationship, and I hope that you will join me for that when I get it posted.**

**Without further ado... **

* * *

Charlie woke up to the feel of wet sticky hands on her face. When she cracked her eye open she found Rae sitting beside her, a grin stretching her mouth wide.

"Morning mama."

Charlie sighed and smiled softly at her little girl. "Good morning baby." she said, wondering why Bass was the one that always let the kid into their bed at night, but she was the one that was always woken up at the crack of dawn.

It was their day off. Neither she nor Bass had anything they needed to do outside of the house today, so they had planned to stick around here and spend time together, as well as do a few little odds and ends that needed tending to.

Reaching over and giving her husband a thump on the arm, Charlie widened her eyes and smiled at Rae. "Get daddy" she said and chuckled when the little girl launched herself on top of her sleeping father.

….

Charlie hurried to the front door when she heard the bell. Bass was in the kitchen looking through his tool bag trying to find the drill bit he needed for the shelves he was putting up in Rae's room. Rae was also in the kitchen "helping" him.

Charlie opened the door, a friendly smile on her face. "Hello?" she said when she saw the strange blonde man standing on her doorstep.

"Hi." he said with a friendly smile of his own. "I was looking for Miles Matheson." he said.

Charlie raised her brows. "Oh, that's my uncle actually, he's not here though." she said.

"Oh, maybe you can give him a message for me them?" he asked and Charlie nodded. "Of course, I'm Charlie." she said.

"My name is Jeremy Backer, we were in the service together." he said. "Oh do you know Bass then?" Charlie asked, cutting him off before he could say more.

Jeremy nodded and smiled a little. "Uh, yeah actually I do, I was going to see about getting in touch with him through Miles, I know how close they always were and figured they still were."

Charlie chuckled. "Yeah, they're still close." she said, knowing that this Jeremy obviously had no idea that Bass had married Miles niece.

"Charlie, babe, did Miles bring that set of bits back that he borrowed?" Bass asked as he walked into the front room. He stopped when he saw Jeremy.

"Backer?" he asked as he came over to the pair still standing in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"

Jeremy looked at Charlie, then to Bass and back again. "You said Miles was your uncle?" he asked and Charlie nodded. "And this big goon just called you babe right?" again Charlie nodded.

"Well that sounds like an interesting story." Jeremy said.

Bass smiled and invited Jeremy inside with an arm around his shoulders. "Miles doesn't live here anymore, he's at work right now probably, but I can call him, let him know you're in town." he said as they walked into the living room.

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice." he looked around the room as he took a seat. "This is a nice place you guys have."

Charlie smiled. "Thanks, this was actually Miles and my mom's place, but after my mother passed away Miles though it was too big for just himself, so here we are now."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your mother, I only met her once but she seemed like a good person." Jeremy said.

Charlie smiled and nodded. "She was."

"Daddy!" Rae called as she staggered her way into the room, unsteady on her toddler legs.

Bass stood up and picked her up. "Hey Darlin' wanna meet an old friend of Daddy's?" he asked

Jeremy stood up, a surprised look on his face. "So you have a little Monroe now huh?" he asked. "How old is this little cutie?" he asked as he smiled at the girl, causing her to giggle and bury her face into her fathers shoulder.

Charlie chuckled. "She's not quite a year and a half, her name is Rae."

Jeremy shook his head and smiled at Bass. "Guess you're a real family man now, just like you always wanted."

Bass looked at Charlie and smiled. "I got exactly what I always wanted." he said with a wink to Charlie.

"If it's ok with the missus," Jeremy said. "how about I buy us a round while we wait for Miles to get off of work?"

Bass glanced at Charlie, his brows raised and she nodded. "That sounds fine, go ahead. Rae and I can call Monica and see if she wants to come hang out." she said and looked at Rae to see her smile. "I bet if she had plans already she won't for long."

Jeremy frowned in question and Charlie laughed. "Miles just recently started dating our friend Monica." she explained and Jeremy nodded in understanding.

"Let me just go put these tools away and I'll give Miles a call and let him know what's going on and where to meet us, and I'll be right back." Bass said before walking out of the room, still holding Rae.

Jeremy watched after them for a moment and then turned back to Charlie. They both retook their seats and he shook his head slightly. "Bass is married, to Miles niece." he said and Charlie smirked. "I still can't believe it." he said.

Charlie shrugged a shoulder, smirk still in place. "Neither could Miles for a while, but he came around when he realized this was the real deal and wasn't going to go away if he ignored it." she said and Jeremy chuckled.

"I can see him trying though." he said and Charlie nodded.

Jeremy sat back in his seat. "He seems happy." he said, using one hand to motion towards the door that Bass and Rae had gone through.

Charlie shrugged a shoulder again. "Good, that's all I really want."

"I know I don't know you, but you seem happy too." he said.

Charlie nodded once more. "I am."

Jeremy smiled. "Good." he said. "You know, back in our service days, this was what we all wanted for him. He was lost after his family died and he tried to hide it with parties and girls, but we all knew that this was what he really needed." he said and smiled at her. "You were what he needed."

Charlie was touched by how much this man, that she had vague memories of hearing about when she was a kid, really cared about Bass.

"I'm glad he had you guys until it was time for him to find me." she said.

Jeremy chuckled. "And Miles, you should have heard how that man would go on and on about you, in his eyes you could do know wrong. It was always Charlie did this and Charlie said that." he smiled softly. "I think you were the first person he was ever really in love with."

Charlie smiled. "We've always had a bit of a soft spot for each other."

Jeremy smirked. "Right, a _bit_." he said. "And you have a brother right?"

Charlie nodded "Yeah, Danny." she said with a smile.

"How's he doing, if I remember right, he had some health problems when he was younger." Jeremy asked, hoping he wasn't touching on a sore subject.

Charlie shook her head slightly and waved away his concern. "No, he's good now. He had some issues with his lungs when he was born, but mom actually helped to create the medication that treated it. Now he's mostly fine, has a very mild case of asthma but only needs an inhaler when he has a cold or his allergies get bad." she smiled fondly thinking of her little brother. "He's getting married soon, at the first of the year right after he finishes school."

Jeremy smiled. "Good, that's good. It sounds like you guys all have a good life."

Charlie nodded and smiled as well. "Yeah, it is."

…..

Later that night after Monica left and Charlie had gotten Rae to sleep, she was sitting up in bed, her reading glasses on and her computer open in front of her as she worked on her new book. It was still in the early stages, but she was excited about it.

That's how Bass found her when he stumbled into the room, trying to be quite so he didn't wake Rae up.

"Oops." he said as he knocked into the dresser and knocked a row of books over, sending two thumping to the floor.

He looked up at Charlie, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry." he said.

Charlie chuckled and got out of bed to help him out of his jacket and boots. "Did you have a good time?" she asked.

Bass nodded as he flopped down on the bed and leaned forward, letting his forehead rest against her hip. "Yeah, it was good. Backer dropped me off on his way to his hotel." he said bringing his hands up to wrap around her, holding her close.

Charlie smiled and ran her fingers through his curls at the back of his head. "Good." she said softly.

Bass sat back some and looked up at her. "It was nice seeing Jeremy, but I missed you though, both of you." he said

Charlie placed her hands on either side of his face. "We missed you too, but I'm glad you went out and had fun with your friends."

"Mmm." he said as he laid back on the bed, taking a laughing Charlie down with him.

….

Later that night, Charlie woke up to the bedroom door opening and Rae coming in and going to Bass' side. Charlie laid there as Bass reached out; still mostly asleep; and picked Rae up and placed her in the bed between them.

Charlie looked over and smiled sleepily at the two most important people in her life. She snuggled down into the blanket and rolled onto her side and reached out to wrap an arm over Rae, her hand resting on Bass' arm, and she went to sleep.

_Everybody always sings about it, but we don't even have to talk about it…_

_...because we're living it._

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